Franke James is Editor/Founder of Office-Politics.com and Inventor of the Office-Politics® Game.

Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss.

Dina Beach Lynch, is an Ombudsman, Author and former attorney. An award-winning mediator, Dina served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues.

Dr. Rick Brandon is CEO of Brandon Partners. He has consulted and trained tens of thousands at corporations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

Dr. Marty Seldman is one of America's most experienced executive coaches. His 35-year career includes expertise in executive coaching, group dynamics, cross-cultural studies, clinical psychology, and training.

Arnie Herz, is a lawyer, mediator, speaker, author and consultant nationally recognized for his practical and inspired approach to conflict resolution and client counseling.

Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.

Office-Politics tip: Every athlete stumbles. Let's try to inspire people to get up, recover their balance, set their minds on new goals and jump over those inevitable hurdles....

July 2006

SPOUTING ADVICE
Giving advice on the letters received at www.officepolitics.com can sometimes appear to be an easy task. After all, everyone loves to give advice right? We can all see things in daily life that people are doing wrong, and the temptation is to jump in and deliver our judgment. But doing it well, in a way that will motivate a positive change in behavior, actually requires a lot of skill and compassion.

SURVIVAL GUIDE
Every week we get many, many letters from employees and employers telling us about problems they are having in their careers, and their workplaces, and asking us for help. My role as Editor is to sift through them, and hopefully direct the letters to the Office-Politics adviser who is the most appropriate. Reading the responses written by the advisers here reminds me how very skilled they are, and what a wealth of coaching and mediation experience they have. Based on only a brief letter, they identify what the core issues are, draw attention to the underlying psychological dynamics and offer new perspectives to help solve the problems. I was rereading "Survival Of The Savvy" the other day, written by Office-Politics Advisers Dr. Rick Brandon and Dr. Marty Seldman. I have to say how impressed I am with it. It is brimming with great advice on how you can be more savvy about office politics -- and how high-integrity political tactics can help you achieve more career and company success. If you haven't read it yet, get your hands on a copy and read it. It could be your best survival guide. Here's a recent response to Rick and Marty's advice...

"Thank you for this great information. After reading through my first thought was "YES!! I am not crazy to think this is alot of hooey." In fact the turnover in our department is tremendous and soon I too will be voting with my feet. In my region there are many competitors who offer better pay and the possibility of better environments. The company is headed up by a major player in the finance industry, it would be hard to believe someone with his caliber could turn a blind eye... but you never know, he might not be able to see it. Thank you all again."

I like to think of www.officepolitics.com as a learning resource. We need to speak the truth and guide -- but we don't need to stomp on egos. We are not here to deliver judgment. We're here to coach. Every athlete stumbles. Let's try to inspire people to get up, recover their balance, set their minds on new goals and jump over those inevitable hurdles.

NEW GOALS
We want to get people thinking, and talking. What is going on here? What is the underlying message? What is the writing on the wall? In the months ahead we're going to be starting a new chapter on the site. I will be reviewing books that will help you to learn more about Office-Politics, and how you can improve your career and your life. The first book review is Susan Bulkeley Butler's, Become the CEO of You. Inc.

NEW BLOOD
We've also added a new Adviser to the team, Dina Beach Lynch. She is an Ombudsman, Author, former attorney, and founder of ADRPracticebuilder.com and WorkWellTogether.com. Dina has been featured in Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines as an award-winning mediator. She has served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues. Her achievements also include being appointed to the Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. We're thrilled that Dina is on board. (Proving the truth in the Six Degree of Separation theory, Dina discovered our site via a blog item on Office-Politics.com Adviser, Arnie Herz' Legal Sanity blog . Thanks Arnie!)

NEW TECHNOLOGY
We've also added RSS (Real Simple Syndication). It's a really easy way to stay up to date on what's happening on the site -- you'll get the latest Office-Politics tips, advice letters, and reviews delivered right to your email program. It puts the power of subscribing, and unsubscribing where it should be -- in the hands of the reader.

Always keep the end goal in mind, but breathe deeply and enjoy the run!

Franke

Franke James, MFA
Editor, & Founder, Office-Politics.com
Inventor, The Office-Politics Game

FEEDBACK HELPS US TO GROW
Don't be shy about sharing your opinions about www.officepolitics.com. Write to me at ceo@officepolitics.com Let me know what we're doing right, and wrong.